Obeying, Blythe rolled over onto her stomach and did her best to crawl. Her body, not used to exerting the strength required to repeatedly pull herself over a short distance with her hands and feet, swiftly began to ache all over.

  It didn’t help that she could sense Giovanni’s presence over her, pressuring her to hurry up and not waste time, although their bodies weren’t physically touching. He moved along with her, shielding her the entire time. Knowing that his presence would only go away once she got out of this area made her keep going.

  At some point, the air behind them went still again, indicating the vorachute had stopped attempting to strike them, but Giovanni didn’t let up.

  “D-did it stop?”

  “Try getting up now and see if it doesn’t try to swallow you whole,” he snapped. “It gave up because of my suit—why am I explaining this? You know this!”

  Gritting her teeth, Blythe pushed through the increasing strain until she felt Giovanni’s presence completely lift off of her. She raised her head to see him standing next to her.

  “Get up,” he said gruffly. “I’ll open the door.”

  She tried and failed to jump to her feet, her muscles strengthless from the earlier exertion. Making an impatient noise, Giovanni extended a hand for her to grab. His fingers wrapped around her hand in a strong grip, and she used that as a support to heave herself up.

  He eyed her for a second before pushing the glass door in front of them open. Blythe tottered out after him, pulled along by his hand.

  Once they made it out, he let the door swing shut and released her hand. Adrenaline drained from her body, leaving her wobbly. She allowed herself to sag as she leaned against the partition wall behind her.

  “Thank you,” she huffed out, wondering if her life would’ve flashed before her eyes if Giovanni hadn’t happened to be there.

  “What were you thinking?!” he demanded, gesturing with his hands spread out.

  “I didn’t know I could get eaten?” she ventured, trying to gather her thoughts. What else could she say, really? Why would she have expected the school greenhouse to contain such a dangerous plant?

  She did not recall Daisy encountering a crazy plant like this in the game. Then again, Daisy hadn’t wandered to this section of the greenhouse either…

  His voice dropped to a cut-the-crap tone. “You didn’t know you could get eaten by a vorachute? That’s Year One knowledge. No, that’s knowledge every five-year-old knows, even if your family doesn’t have one in the gardens.”

  His assumption was kind of weird. Why would any family have a human-eating carnivorous plant in their gardens?

  Giovanni’s rant hadn’t stopped. “That’s why they drilled into us the importance of wearing the full body protection gear before going into the red zone! What were you even doing in there? You know entry into the red zone is prohibited if you’re not wearing full gear! A five-year-old knows not to go near a vorachute!”

  Oh.

  That must have been why the vorachute’s attacks against Giovanni had failed.

  In the rush of things, Blythe hadn’t fully noticed that he was decked out from head to toe in the bright blue thick-looking fabric. Shiny yellow stones embedded into the fabric at certain parts of the attire caught the light at different angles as he gesticulated at her.

  Focusing her attention on the outfit itself, she attempted to trigger the status window.

  She probably should’ve used her checking skill on the strange-looking coat rack before strolling right into the red zone.

  Multiple feet away, the vorachute had already gone back to pretending to be an innocuous pretty plant, waiting for its next unwitting victim.

  “But why does the school have a man-eating plant in its greenhouse to begin with?” She was so dazed that the question just slipped out.

  Scrunching her eyes closed, Blythe vigorously shook her head. She had to learn to keep her mouth shut during unexpected situations.

  “You know it’s for academic research purposes,” Giovanni snapped. “Those idiots who go into the red zone with the protective suit for laughs are one thing, but I’ve never seen an idiot go in without wearing one, let alone waltz right up to a vorachute like they want to be eaten!”

  “Blythe!” Sophie’s voice drew Blythe’s attention. “What happened? Why are you here? Are you alright?!”

  By the time Blythe turned her head, her friend was already by her side, shock and worry written all over her face.

  “I’m alright,” Blythe reassured her. “There was a … mishap.”

  That was putting it lightly, but Sophie didn’t need all the details.

  Giovanni snorted. “You nearly caused your own death, you mean.”

  Well, that was that. She should’ve known he wouldn’t cover for her, not when he still looked livid she’d gone into the supposed restricted area without protective gear.

  Sophie paled, her mouth falling open. “What does that mean? And why do you look so frail? Did Giovanni push you?”

  Alarmed by the bizarre escalation of questions, Blythe waved both hands at her. “He did not!”

  At the same time, Giovanni snarled, “I saved her!”

  “Is that true?” Sophie asked, looking only at Blythe and ignoring the fuming Giovanni in the background. “What does he mean by that?”

  Blythe wasn’t sure if she was more touched or apprehensive that Sophie would only accept the truth coming from her mouth.

  “It’s true,” she said quickly before Sophie could say anything else that might infuriate Giovanni. “I would’ve been eaten by the vorachute at the back there if he hadn’t shielded me in time. He really saved my life. Thank you, Giovanni.”

  She faced him to say the last sentence, wanting to convey the sincerity of her gratitude.

  He scowled and turned away. “Yeah, whatever.”

  She got a couple of system notifications for her effort.

  The contrast between the actual change in points and his attitude didn’t surprise her. He was the tsundere love interest of the game for a reason.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m still in shock,” Sophie said, offering her hand and helping Blythe to stand independent of the partition wall. “I can’t believe you almost lost your life! Why were you in the red zone without the protective suit?”

  Snorting, Giovanni crossed his arms. “My question exactly. I thought she was courting death, but she apparently doesn’t even know a vorachute could eat her.”

  Sophie frowned. “What are you talking about? Everyone in Beryllia knows that. Don’t put words in her mouth.”

  “She said she didn’t know she could get eaten.”

  For a brief second, Blythe seriously entertained the thought of dropping to the floor again and playing dead.

  “No way.” Sophie placed her hands on her hips. “Blythe did not say that. You’re making things up.”

  Jessica and Sophie knowing she had ‘amnesia’ was one thing, but she could not afford to have someone outside of her inner circle know about this.

  “Ask her yourse—”

  “Look, I’m really sorry for causing you so much trouble,” Blythe blurted out, looping her arm around Sophie’s. “Thanks again for saving me. I can’t express how much I appreciate it. I promise I’ll never, ever go in there again without the appropriate gear. We should go now. Let’s go, Soph.”

  Thankfully, Sophie was receptive to Blythe’s attempt at guiding her away. She followed along well enough, but not before shooting Giovanni a dirty look.

  “He’s just saying that, isn’t he?”

  “L-let’s just go first—”

  “I don’t care if you have basic common sense or not,” he snapped, whirling around and stalking back into the red zone. “Just stop messing around in my greenhouse.”

  A deep furrow appeared between Sophie’s eyebrows.

  “It’s not his greenhouse,” she muttered, but she left the topic at that. He was also too far away to hear her at this point.

  As they walked away from Giovanni towards the front of the greenhouse where Sophie’s project was, Blythe stifled a relieved sigh. They made it to Dewy the flamestalk, and Sophie picked up the rubber gloves strewn over the rack.

  She was naive to think she’d successfully escaped from any uncomfortable questions.

  “I know he’s a prodigy,” Sophie began ranting, picking up a metal container filled with a brown, crumbly substance, “in Botany and all that, but that doesn’t give him the right to invent lies about you! Forgive me for overstepping, but why did you want to leave before demanding answers from him?”

  “Uh …”

  If she said she knew there was a risk of death, Sophie might then ask why she went near the vorachute in the first place, let alone do it without the appropriate safety gear.

  If she said she really didn’t know about it, Sophie would probably question her entire existence. From Sophie’s and Giovanni’s reactions, this was common knowledge that the original Blythe definitely knew.

  “He wasn’t lying. I, um, somehow forgot the vorachute was dangerous?”

  Sophie’s eyes flew from her flamestalk’s pot back to Blythe’s face. “You forgot? How?”

  “You know, sometimes you just forget about things in the moment.”

  “Um … not about things like this.” She set the container of compost back down on the rack. “This is basic safety knowledge, Blythe. Did you really forget about that? I’m worried about you.”

  Blythe’s heart sank. Was she going to have to tell Sophie about her ’amnesia’ like she did with Jessica?

  She shouldn’t have wandered into the red zone without at least paying more attention to her surroundings, but it was too late for regrets now.

  Looking into Sophie’s blue eyes and seeing the distress behind them, she made the split second decision to tell her. It was pointless to make an excuse to distract Sophie from her lack of basic world knowledge. This issue would inevitably crop up again in future because Blythe didn’t know what she didn’t know.

  She was better off letting both Jessica and Sophie in on it so they could have her back and cover for her whenever similar situations arose.

  “I have something to tell you. Let’s talk in my room after you’re done caring for Dewy.” Blythe nodded at the plant.

  The apprehension on Sophie’s face faded into curiosity. “Okay …”

  ???

  Sophie took the news just as well as Jessica had. She mostly expressed concern for Blythe’s health than anything else.

  “That makes a lot of sense,” she said when Blythe concluded the short tale of her ‘amnesia’. “So that’s why you’ve been acting so strangely recently.”

  If she’d displayed a lack of basic world knowledge like earlier, she needed to know. Blythe was afraid to ask.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Like when you said you wanted to give Jessica and me nicknames. Or when you wanted to talk informally with us. I was—how can I put this … astounded.”

  “Yeah, I realize I didn’t use to do that. I wanted to feel closer to you two, though. I think my personality has changed a bit after I took that fall to the head.”

  Sophie nodded solemnly. “It really has. Sometimes it feels like you’re a whole different person.”

  Managing not to flinch at that, Blythe said, “Was there anything especially out of place? I’d rather know in case other people get suspicious. I don’t want word about my situation to get around. It’s a sensitive issue, you know.”

  “That goes without saying! Nobody will ever be able to get a word out of me about this,” Sophie vowed.

  “Thanks. I knew I could rely on you.”

  She got 5 favorability points for that.

  Blythe prompted again, “So, was there anything else I did that was strange?”

  “Well … you’ve been very supportive of my efforts in botany lately. I’m not complaining about how you were before! It’s simply that you didn’t use to show any interest in hearing about my projects or my aspiration to become a professional botanist. Your recent encouragement truly motivated me, especially since my parents don’t really believe in me.”

  No wonder she’d gained all that favorability in the greenhouse. Just being patient with Sophie’s passion for botany was enough to move her, apparently. Blythe felt bad.

  “Why don’t they believe in you?”

  Sophie blinked a few times. “Oh, you forgot. Don’t worry—you can always ask me if there’s anything you want to know. My parents say it’s easy to achieve good grades in school, but actually becoming a research specialist requires more than that. They don’t think I have the kind of discipline my brother has. I mean, they haven’t explicitly said that, but I can read between the lines.”

  She tightened her grip on the cushion Blythe had offered to her.

  “For what it’s worth, I think you’re more than capable,” Blythe said. “It’s obvious you take great pride in your work. You should prove them wrong.”

  She received another 5 favorability points.

  “Do you really think so?”

  “Yeah, really. You’re even in Advanced Botany!”

  Since Sophie didn’t provide any other examples of her odd behavior, she was going to take it as there weren’t any particularly egregious ones like today’s.

  “I’ll do my best.” Sophie asked gingerly, “Does Jess know?”

  Wait, should I say no? What if she feels left out?

  Blythe must have hesitated a second too long, because Sophie’s face fell a little before she smoothed it over again. Red light filled her vision for the briefest of moments.

  That was the first time she’d seen Sophie’s favorability drop. It hadn’t even happened when Blythe was upset at her for dropping Daisy’s bag in the fountain.

  “I understand,” Sophie said, quirking a small smile at her. “I’d like you to know that you can tell me anything. I’ll always be here to listen and I’ll never share anything confidential with anyone else. Not even with Jess.”

  Blythe was beginning to feel like these two were vying with each other for the number one best friend position with her. She smiled awkwardly back at Sophie.

  “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind. You should know that I didn’t intentionally leave you out when I told Jessica. She already had her suspicions and approached me about it, and I really didn’t want to talk about it with other people at that time. It’s been overwhelming.”

  She earned it back again.

  “Oh, no, I totally understand! I wouldn’t want you to push yourself to tell me. And thank you for trusting me enough to let me know now.”

  Sophie looked significantly pleased as they left for the library together.